Snickerdoodles

Even in today's world of easy and inexpensive communication, it's difficult to really show how much you love someone. Some people exhibit their love through letters, and some through sending gifts in the mail; some people even send telegrams.

Lillian Cairns spends a lot of her time in Colorado baking cookies and mailing them countrywide to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. By sending something homemade, she spreads the message that she is spending time and effort to get something off in the mail that her relatives will really enjoy and will remember her every time they take a bite of one of her delicious treats. Since Ms. Cairns cannot be there in person, sending cookies is her way of being present in the lives of her dear ones.



I've gotten to sample a few of Ms. Cairns cookies and her Snickerdoodles are my favorite (so far). They are not too sweet, which is one of the things I like so much since I do not have much of a sweet-tooth.



Snickerdoodles
Makes 5-6 dozen cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs until smooth. In a separate bowl, blend the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. In 3 or 4 additions, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well mixed.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Roll the cookie dough into one inch balls and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.



Bake for 8-10 minutes. If you like cookies soft and chewy, make sure the cookies are removed from the oven before the bottom of the cookies brown. If you prefer crunchy cookies, leave them in the oven until the bottom is golden brown.

Let them cool on the sheet for a few minutes before removing the cookies to a baking rack until they are completely cool.

Beef Fried Rice

I found this recipe in a Chinese cookbook. I changed the recipe a little because I did not use minced beef, instead, I thinly sliced it against the grain into thin strips.

The recipe is lovely; it's very mild with many subtle flavors coming through. My parents particularly like the ginger flavor that they could taste in the dish.

Serve this recipe with a simple stir fried green vegetable and I think you'd have a very tasty meal.

Beef Fried Rice
Serves 2 for lunch, or 3 with an additional dish

Ingredients
8 ounces of beef, (I used sirloin) finely sliced into 1/8-1/4 inch width strips against the grain
3 cups boiled rice, cooked in advance and fluffed with a fork to separate the grains
1 egg, beaten lightly
4 cloves garlic, minced finely
1/4 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced finely
4 scallions, cut into small rounds and whites separated from greens
4 leaves of iceberg lettuce, thinly shredded
4 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp thin soy sauce
2 tsp thick soy sauce
3 tsp Shaohsing wine or medium-dry sherry
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch or potato flour

Prep all of the ingredients and the rice. Add the sugar, soy sauces, 1 tsp of the wine or sherry, the pepper and the cornstarch or potato flour to the beef. Stir vigorously and marinade for 30 minutes. Blend 1 tbsp of the oil into the beef.



Heat the wok until it is very hot and add 2 tbsp of oil. Add the garlic, ginger and white part of the scallions and stir until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds.

Next add the beef. Stir continuously for about 30 seconds, and splash in the remaining 2 tsp of wine or sherry.



Finally pour in the egg and rice, and continue to stir for about 2 more minutes until everything is blended and heated through. It is important to stir gently so that the rice does not get broken up.

Remove the wok from the heat, and add the lettuce and green scallions, incorporating them carefully. Serve hot!

Pot Stickers

My family really likes dumplings, pot stickers, gyoza... anything of that sort. So when we had some leftover meat after making wonton soup, my Mom suggested that we try making pot stickers.

I was a little nervous about trying to make pot stickers with the wonton skins because they are so thin, but it worked beautifully. Follow my Wonton Soup recipe up until the step where you fold the wonton wrappers in half to form a triangle, and then follow the easy instructions below. Keep in mind that for pot stickers, no stock is necessary!

Pot Stickers
Makes 80-90 pot stickers

Ingredients
1 Wonton Soup recipe up until the point when you fold the wontons in half to a triangle shape
3/4 cup water (per batch of pot stickers that will fit into the pan)
1 tbsp of canola oil
1 large heavy bottomed pan, at least 2 inches deep and with a lid

This is very simple to do. First, heat the oil in the pan. Place the pot stickers into the pan. They can be very close together. Brown for 3-4 minutes.



Next, add the water into the pan. Bring to a boil, cover with the lid, and simmer for 5-7 minutes. This steams the pot stickers and ensures that the meat inside is cooked.

Uncover the lid and let the water evaporate. Continue to brown until golden and crunchy on the underside. Remove the pot stickers from the pan carefully so as not to break them apart. Serve immediately. I used Kikkoman Ponzu sauce as the dipping sauce.

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup makes a nice comforting meal when it's cold outside. It's also got all kinds of good veggies in it, making it a healthy choice as well. To make it vegan, just change the chicken stock for vegetable stock, and use a substitute for the parmesan cheese. Don't be scared to use some creative license with your soup; if you have some extra veggies begging to be used, try adding them in. The overall taste of your soup will change slightly, but minestrone soup is all about taking what's leftover in the house and making a delicious meal.

Minestrone Soup
Feeds 4 for dinner

Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1-2 medium-large potatoes, cubed
1 green zucchini, cut into small pieces
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 cup uncooked tube pasta
1 can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
8 cups of chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
Parmesan cheese to garnish
1 bunch of broccoli rabe (optional)



Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrot and potato and saute until softened, about 10 minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes, and stock. Bring to a boil. Simmer for approximately 10 minutes.



Add the zucchini and the beans, and simmer for another 5 minutes.



Take off the heat, and add the broccoli rabe. Let sit for a further 5 minutes.

Serve hot and garnish with a nice helping of parmesan cheese.

Wonton Soup

This recipe is amazing! It's the best wonton soup I've ever eaten - better than even the best Chinese restaurant. The greatest part is, it's even easier to make than I would have imagined.



Wonton Soup
Makes approximately 80-90 wontons

Ingredients
12 ounces of ground pork
4 ounces raw shelled shrimp, chopped into small pieces
2-3 ounces bamboo shoots chopped very small
6 scallions, chopped into thin rounds
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
6-8 leaves lettuce or blanched chinese cabbage
1 1/2 quarts of chicken stock
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp thin soy sauce
1 tsp thick soy sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp Shaohsing wine or medium-dry sherry
1 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp water
2 teaspoons sesame oil

In a large bowl, mix the shrimp and pork with the cornstarch, sugar, soy sauces, pepper and wine. Then stir in the water one tablespoon at a time. Next it's time to take out some aggression. Take the entire meat mixture, pick it up, and throw it back into the bowl. Repeat this about 100 times.

Next, add the bamboo shoots and the white parts of the scallions to the meat mixture and marinate for about 30 minutes. Then blend in the sesame oil. Right before wrapping the mixture in the wontons, add the egg yolk to the mixture.



Now comes the fun part! I used Nasoya wonton wrappers and they worked well. It would have better if they were cut into perfect squares, but they were certainly sufficient for the task.



Its really easy to fold a wonton! First, put about a tsp of the mixture onto the middle of the square.



Second, use a brush and paint two edges of the wrapper and fold the noodle in half to form a triangle. Press the edges gently together.



Finally, put a little egg white on one tip, and fold the two tips together, joining them with the egg white you put on.



Here are a bunch of beautiful wontons, all waiting to be cooked! In one pan, gently heat the stock, and in another pan, heat water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, place about 20 wontons in the pan. It will only take about 3 minutes to cook the wontons. When they are done, they float. Remove them carefully and place them in the stock. Repeat until all of the wontons are cooked.

Serve by garnishing with some finely shredded lettuce and scallions on top.

Chicken Burrito Bowl

I was craving Chipotle, but alas, there is no Chipotle within easy reach of where I live. So, I decided to scour the fridge to see if I could come up with something that would be similar. Turns out that I had no lettuce which really wasn't vital, but I also had no tortillas! Well, that didn't stop me. I still made the filling for the burrito, making what Chipotle calls a "burrito bol". It turned out pretty well, and I particularly enjoyed the marinade I made for the chicken.

Chicken Burrito Bowl
Serves 3 people for dinner

Ingredients For the Rice
1 cup of basmati rice
2 cups of water
Juice of one lime
1 tbsp of canola oil
1/2 tsp of salt
Handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Ingredients for the Pico de Gallo
2 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1/4 of a red onion, finely chopped
1 jalepeno, finely chopped
1 large handful of cilantro, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the Chicken
2 chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 of a red onion
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt

Other Optional Ingredients
Black beans
Cheese
Guacamole
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Tabasco/other hot sauces


This recipe is very simple, especially with the help of a Cuisinart. Take all the ingredients for the chicken, except the chicken itself and blend them together in the Cuisinart. Spread the mixture over both sides of the chicken and marinade for at least one hour. When it comes time to cook the chicken, grill it on a hot grill, or in a fry pan (add a dash of oil to a fry pan so that the chicken doesn't stick) for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Cut the chicken into slices and serve hot.



For the salsa, simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. For the rice, I used a rice cooker, so that just involved putting everything, aside from the cilantro, into the cooker and hitting the "cook" button. Just before serving, I carefully stirred in the cilantro, without crushing the rice.



I mixed in some low sodium black beans, cheese, and red and green tabasco sauces with my rice, salsa and chicken. This is a great dish for guests because everyone can customize their bowl. Now I can make delicious burritos at home and not pine over the lack of Chipotle in my area!

Fruits of the Kuiseb Delta, Namibia

During my recent travels to Namibia, I went on a Historical Dune Tour with Fanie Du Preez, who owns Kuiseb Delta Adventures. As many of you know I am fairly well traveled, but I can honestly say that going with Fanie was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. Fanie is passionate about the delta and did a great job showing us everything. I had never been on a quad bike before, and Fanie was very patient and helpful in instructing me (at one point though he did mention that I was doing better than Angelina Jolie!). I highly highly recommend a trip to Namibia, and in particular going with Fanie to see the wonders of the Kuiseb Delta. His website is www.kuisebonline.com.

The reason why I am writing about my dune tour on my food blog is because Fanie showed us, among many other amazing things, two plants that are native to the Kuiseb Delta and I thought it would be interesting to share what I learned. The below information is supplied courtesy of Fanie. The first plant I will talk about is called the !nara (said with a clicking noise at the beginning) and the second, is the sirub.


(A !nara fruit with a baby chameleon sitting on top.) See photo above.

The !nara (Acanthosicyos horridus) is a type of cucumber. It is a life giving plant to almost every species in the Kuiseb delta. The plant and fruit are eaten by humans, insects, gazelles, antelopes, jackal, brown hyena, rodents, birds and lizards.

The taste of the fruit is unfamiliar to all humans, except the Topnaar people who live in the delta. The fruit is in season from mid December until May. It contains a lot of water, protein, iron, and vitamins B, C and D. The raw seeds of the fruit contain up to 57% polyunsaturated oil. The fruit is ripe when it reaches 5 inches in diameter and tastes neither bitter nor sweet. The larger the fruit the sweeter it tastes. Female plants can bear many fruits every year.


(The branches of the !nara. They are edible but very bitter tasting.) See photo above.

The !nara needs lots of water, but do not like getting wet from fog and rain. The whole delta has a fresh water aquifer underneath it and therefore there is very shallow water available. The Kuiseb delta is approximately 400 square km and is full of !nara. In winter there is more fog, and a black fungi forms on the stems and will quickly kill parts of the plant.


(The dried seeds of the !nara, ready to be exported.) See photo above.

The Topnaar people of the Kuiseb delta have woven their whole existence around this one fruit. When the fruit is almost ripe, they harvest it and bury it underneath the sand for three hot days. The hot sand hastens the ripening process. Then they cook the !nara’s in large pots for three hours, stirring all the time. Once cooked, the mixture is put through a sieve to separate the porridge from the seeds. The seeds are then dried in the sun and exported to Germany and Cape Town, South Africa. In Germany the nutty like seeds are used in confectionary and in Cape Town they are called butter pits and eaten like peanuts. The rest of the pot which is dried, rolled and eaten in between seasons is called Topnaar chocolate. I got to taste it and it was very similar to a fruit leather from Trader Joes. In season the Topnaar’s eat the raw !nara’s. They use the dried roots to make medicine against arthritis and diabetes, and they also smoke them.


(A sirub plant.) See photo above.

The second fruit we saw, and actually got to eat because it was ripe, was the sirub. The sirub (capparis hereroensis) fruits are eaten by the Topnaars, animals, rodents, birds, canivores and insects, while the leaves are eaten by the gazelle, oryx and ostriches. The roots are poisonous and used by the Topnaars as poison. The fruit tastes like banana, gooseberry, and elderflower.


(An open sirub fruit. The yellow flesh, not the seeds, is eaten.) See photo above.

Both desert fruits are creepers and grow very quickly. They are the only plants who can survive the fast moving dunes of the delta. They grow up and over the slip faces of the moving dunes. The roots of both these plants are full of capillaries to enable them to carry the water up the high dunes. The roots are usually about 3 inches thick, but can be larger.